love-hawa@hotmail.com

Project Description:

when the moors rule in europe - history of al andalus or islam in spain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs3y-jpy4ei

1) in 1492, on his way to the americas, cristopher columbus stopped in granada, spain to visit ferdinand and isabella as they were celebrating a grand victory, which one?
2) what kind of society did the muslims create when they invaded spain 711 ad?
3) how many muslims did the spanish authority expel and how many arabic books did they burn?

4) who are the moors? how did the propaganda portray them? and was it true?

5) what is the secret in the harmony of the geometry of al hambra that makes it magical?

6) in addition to territorial expansion, islam was a face committed to the pursuit of what? and why?

7) in the sample translation in the library of alexandria the host shows historian brittany hughes a piece of antique paper whose translation was done in iraq and the commentary was done in al andalus (spain) by a famous philosopher named ……………………………….

8) what tribes did the arabs convert in north africa? ………………………………….
9) in july 711, how many tribesmen stormed from north africa into europe? how many years did it take them to occupy all of spain and up to poitiers in france?

10) who was ruling spain before the arab invasions (al futuuhat: openings) and how has the spanish historians traditionally seen the islamic invasion of spain?
11) what other explanation has been found by archeologists in the visigothic site of recopolis in madrid? and is the idea that the arabs are responsible for the collapse of spanish cities such as recopolis during the visigothic period true or not? support your answer

12) historian hughes states: “if you read the orthodox spanish histories then you’ll learn the predatory muslim hordes forcibly appropriated visigothic spain” was there any evidence of violence when the arabs invaded spain?

13) who is abdel rahman? where did he come from and where did he go to? what did he bring with him?

14) describe how the city of qortoba was transformed under the reign of abdel rahman around the 10th century: (how many inhabitants, libraries were there etc…how was the water system, the street lights?) what was called by the german visitor

15) the mosque of qortoba was abdel rahman’s greatest achievements in qortoba? describe the mosque: how big was it? how many arches did it have? also there were no microphones at the time. so how was the acoustic problem solved?
16) historian hughes says that “modern spain has been reluctant to acknowledge that its indigenous population has converted to islam in droves” and that “standard history books present” the 7 centuries of arabo- “muslim occupation of spain as something superficial” and not as one “that had any lasting impact on the bulk of the population”. are these statements true? support your answers.
17) historians in this documentary sate that the islamization and arabization of all of spain was huge, that there was no evidence of force or violence and that the people were just following a culture that was at the time superior in innovation. list 3 things that drove people to such conversions:

18) why were the muslims interested in the stars and in heavens and how does that help in the development of some sciences?

19) how developed was the medicine of the andalusian qortoba?

20) in 912 abel rahman the 3rd, 21 yrs. old, took al andalus to even greater heights of wealth and innovation. he built an opulent palace using 10.000 workmen called after his favorite. what did he declare himself to be? and what was the name of his opulent palace?